Coping with Writing Anxiety

Let’s face it: There aren’t a whole lot of things as intimidating as a blindingly white blank page can be. Whether it’s a blank monitor or an empty piece of paper lying on your desk, it makes no difference. No matter what it takes, you’ve got to somehow muster up the gumption to get some writing done. But how do you move past the anxiety you’ve built up within yourself and put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard? Below are some tips to help you get over any writing anxiety that you’re feeling and get you cranking out great content in no time!

Appreciate your unique view on things

Nobody sees life and the things in it the exact same way that you do, nor can anyone express it in the exact same way that you do. Old stories are told and then retold countless times. Not because the original story needed work, so it’s been improved upon; because with each new version, the story will differ in some ways. Each storyteller has experiences and thoughts all their own, and it is these experiences and thoughts that we draw from when we tell a story.

Our influences shape our thoughts and who we are

We borrow our creativity from others. None of us formed our thoughts out of the blue and without any outside influence at all. We’ve all been subjected to a bunch of different role models throughout our lives. Why bother trying to copy a hero when all we’ve got to do is reach out our hand and allow them to guide us?

Have faith!

It sounds simplistic and maybe even silly, but have faith in you! You are capable of far more than you even realize, so stop letting fear get in the way. If you don’t believe in yourself and have faith in your abilities, then why would anyone else?

Write for a particular person

Write as though you’re speaking to someone – only one set of eyes. It doesn’t even matter who it is you choose. Simply write as though you’re having a conversation with them. Joke around as if they’re reading it and your jokes are making them laugh and smile.

Keep going and edit later

The important thing is that you are writing. Don’t allow your thoughts to drift and start to think the worst. All that will result in is you slowing down, or worse – stopping. Push through the feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and doubt and keep going. Once you’ve drained yourself of everything you needed to get out, return later to reread what you’ve written. This will give you a chance to edit what wrote with a clear mind, and who knows – you might even be surprised with the quality of what you wrote!

Not even Mother Teresa was perfect

Nobody gets everything perfect on the first time. The important thing is that you start. Nobody is watching you, so it makes no difference if you screw up. Close the door, take a deep breath in silence, and allow what is deep inside of you to finally come out. Even if you end up hating what you write, at least you wrote something. And it’s a lot easier to edit, tweak, and perfect once you’ve got something to work with. Just keep trying until you get it to a point where you can be happy with what you’ve written.

Rules were meant to be broken

Why subject yourself to a set of rules? Rules can intimidate you, and all intimidation is good for is creating a shortcut to anxiety. So what if you don’t know when to use a comma or when not to use an apostrophe? That tiny little mistake can never come close to equaling the importance of a good idea! Get your ideas out there, regardless of whether they are grammatically perfect or not.

Baby steps

The very first keystroke is always the most difficult to make. Whether you think your idea is a good one or not, push yourself past your fears and get to writing. You may even benefit from your uncertainty. Sounds odd, but think about it – we are most likely to find ourselves when we’re outside of our comfort zone. Step outside of yours and allow that first keystroke to happen!

What great tips do you have for dealing with writing anxiety? Share with the community in the comments section below!

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7 Comments

Thanks for the post, writing content is one of the many things us newbies struggle with. Personally, I have found using private label rights material to give me ideas helps and then a 10 minute brainstorm seesion.I have fouund a lot of useful content on your site and I am sure it will help me acheive the success I know I can.
Keep up the good work
Cheers
Jules

I agree that PLR material can be good to spark an idea, or to help you brainstorm, but I think it is very important not to ‘re-hash’ or ‘plaigiarise’ by copying them directly.

I think another way to help you come up with great content with a good subject, is to keep on top of similar blogs within your niche or area of expertise – I personally read many blogging sites to spark new and innovative ideas for posts.

Keep it fresh, relevant and valuable and your readers will thanks you! 😉

Hey Luke thanks for the reply. Obviously you’re right it is vital to write things in your own words so your personality/character shows through. The problem I have with keeping up with the other blogs in my niche is there are so many of them. Do you know of any way to get a listing of blogs in a specifc niche sorted by Alexa Ranking? Then I could just concentrate on the ones that are bringing the traffic in.
Cheers
Jules

Allows you to sort all of the top IM blogs into all kinds of orders. Other than that, just type in ‘top XXX websites’ into Goole (replacing ‘XXX’ with your niche) and that should produce some pretty solid results.

Luke, Thanks very much had heard of Guytae Park and his site but had never visited. It’s exactly what I was looking for and now will become one of my most vistied sites (along with yours of course LOL).
Thanks again

Dan

December 1, 2010 at 6:52 pm

I would like to thank you for the information you are sharing. Your right on the money. I fall into these traps and so often I find myself stopping and doubting myself without trying. This is a disaster. When you said act like I’m just talking to one person, that’s a great idea. A fiend doesn’t care what you say as long as you say it. I know that when, not if, I feel a mental block coming on I will just remember what you wrote here and kick myself in the XXXX and get on with it. Thanks again for the boost.

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